Recycle Cardboard Boxes & Kids Can Make Adorable Gift Packages!

Been saving those cereal and cracker boxes? Now is the time to use them to make super sweet gift packages for Purim mishloach manot, or for any occasion— who wouldn’t love to receive a gift packaged in one of these great works of art? And the kids will feel so proud of themselves, you they may even be able to make a ton of these. Then all that’s left for you to do is glue the boxes closed, add a ribbon handle, and something wonderful inside, and voila!

You’ll Need

• recycled boxes from cereal, crackers etc
• acrylic craft paint, or any good quality paint that can be used for printing (namely not runny)
• paint markers or permanent markers
• circle sponge stamp (mine have handles) for kid’s crafts, or carve a potato
• a hot glue gun
• wide ribbon

How To:

1. Open boxes at seam carefully. Lie flat and get the kids to work decorating them by either printing with a circular sponge, or by painting simple pictures
2. Once paint has dried, give kids markers to add details to their paintings and faces to their circles
3. For rectangular food box, add handle before you glue it together!
4. Glue side seam of box together with hot glue, followed by the bottom.
5. For cereal box “bag” shape, fold flaps down into box and glue in place. (just thought of this, it hides the cereal box graphics a bit!)
6. Punch holes in top of cereal box for ribbon handles. Use a little hot glue to secure ribbon to box just above the hole, and under the knot on the outside so it will lie flat.
7. Fill with healthy treats or wonderful handmade presents (Don’t anyone get nervous, this is the goal, not reality most of the time, well except for the healthy part, which one really can do—I’ll be giving whole wheat pitas and salads for Purim this year…)
8. Have fun and send me photos of your kid’s creations! Oh and by the way, if you have a chance do pick up any of the drawing books by Ed Emberly, most kids really love them. (I know I did, though for some mysterious reason, my kids have yet to realize how wonderful they are! ) Some of the faces on the circle packages were inspired by one of his books.

Oh and one more thing. Painting pictures is actually quite difficult for many kids (and me too), so for those who are perfectionist types and don’t enjoy painting because their pictures look like blobs, the idea of adding details with paint markers (or permanent markers) afterwards may help them loosen up a bit and enjoy painting! Here’s to helping our kids enjoy the creative process!

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